My Top 5 Summer Purchases

I feel like recently, I’ve been starting just about every blog post with an apology for a lack of posts…

I have no excuses this time; I’ve been working 9-5, and I figured I’d have time in the evenings and weekends to spend on writing… but it turns out I can nap a whole lot. I realised earlier that my last post was over a month ago (I thought it was like last week, I’ve been pretty bad), so I’ve kicked myself into gear.

I haven’t done one of my beloved lists in a while, so here are my five favourite purchases of the summer (so far!):

1. Blue Eyelet Lace Up High Waist Skinny Jeans, New Look, £27.99

I love these jeans! I spotted them when I was in Glasgow a few weeks ago and wasn’t sure about the whole lace-up look going on, but I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I ended up back out in Glasgow the next week for work, so I went straight to New Look to pick up a pair and I have not been disappointed! I prefer the stretchy kind of fabric rather than hard denim jeans, and adore high waists – it feels weird wearing anything at my hips now, I wear them that often – so these are perfect 🙂

2. Jerome Russell Bblonde Maximum Highlighting Kit No.1, Boots, £6.99I knoooooow. It was only a matter of months ago that I wrote a post totally blasting the idea of home bleaching, and I still wouldn’t dare try to bleach the entirety of my hair again. But things were getting desperate; I’m at home on my little rock for the summer, the few hairdressers we have at home are all in high demand, and I’m never on the mainland long enough to get a patch test done right now. My original blonde from last year is now only coming up to the top of my ears, and despite trying to pass off my roots as being a dip dye look, I know fine that they’re just roots. So, I went to Boots and sourced this:

I figured if it didn’t work, then I’d just purchase a darker dye and go over it – totally responsible, I know! It works by pulling strands through the highlighter cap provided (which I loved, because I hate all these new “brush through” products!), applying the bleach, waiting between 15-90 minutes (this seemed like an incredibly vague time, so about 25 minutes worked for me), and then the usual wash out – and it was a success! I was so happy with the results. I’ll probably do a full review later on to make up for my bashing of home dyes…

3. Essie Nail Polish in “Ballet Slippers”

I was forever doing my nails when I was younger, and for some reason I stopped when I was about 16, so I became determined to find a nice, natural shade that meant I had pretty-looking nails without being a ridiculous colour. Then one day I read an article about the Queen having this shade as her favourite, and I mean, what 20 year old doesn’t look to the Queen as a style icon? I came across it in Boots and it looked pretty promising – and it definitely was! It’s a lovely pale nude colour with a slight hint of pink (pink = instant winner), and my nails definitely look better for having it on. Plus it goes with anything I’m wearing!

4. H&M Off-the-Shoulder Blouse in WhiteA bit of a random one given that I’ve purchased waaay too many tops this summer, but this one is by far my favourite. I’ve been working in an office over the last few months, so I set out to find something I could wear that was acceptable there, but was also fashionable-looking enough. This definitely ticks both boxes! I loved it so much that I even took a 2010-style mirror selfie (featuring the lace-up jeans!), so there we go.

5. NYX Lid Lingerie Eye Tint

Another one I’ll probably talk about more in depth later! I had no idea such a thing existed, but when I was visiting my friend in Lyon, she took me to a Monoprix and I was intrigued to see what they had in their NYX display – and came across these! I bought one to try out, and ended up going back the next day for more colours; it’s incredibly lightweight when applying, and the colour comes through so well. Plus it stays on all day! I’ve never seen the range in the UK, but a Google search suggests that Boots might do them, so I’ll definitely be on the lookout from now on!